Tongue Disorders Occuring in Diabetes Mellitus Patients – A Prevalence Study

ABSTRACT

Background: Tongue changes in various systemic diseases have been established in many studies. India being the diabetic capital of the world has many undiagnosed/uncontrolled cases of diabetes.Oral cavity is a mirror of systemic illness; many oral manifestations are associated with the metabolic disease Diabetes mellitus (DM). Aim & Objective: To estimate the prevalence rate of tongue disorders among diabetes mellitus patients. Methods: This observational study includes 100 Diabetic patients taken from the outpatients who reported to the Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Tamil Nadu Government Dental College, Chennai and were clinically examined for tongue changes. Results: The prevalence rate of various tongue disorders among the total study population was recorded as 91%. The prevalence of tongue disorders in our study was significantly high in type II DM than type I DM, with respect to specific tongue disorders, a highly significant association was observed between Fissured tongue (17%) and type II DM. Conclusion: Specialists in Oral Medicine & Radiology must look for tongue disorders as one of the oral manifestation of Diabetes mellitus and suspect the presence of DM based on the tongue manifestations in those who are not aware of their Diabetic status and refer them for screening so as to diagnose DM early and treat it effectively.